On the effect of Ag content on the deformation behavior of ultrafine-grained Pd–Ag alloys

 Pd and Pd–Ag alloys with grain size smaller than 500 nm were studied using nanoindentation to investigate the effect of alloy content on the deformation behavior. The grain size decreased with increasing Ag content. While the hardness increases with decreasing grain size, the strain rate sensitivity decreases, which is opposite to what is expected for fine-grained face-centered cubic metals. Solid solution strengthening and changes in the stacking fault density are suggested to contribute to the hardness increase and the deformation behavior.